Video Tutorials
Basic Search Tips
Breaking down your topic into keywords, or the core concepts, will help you search more effectively. You are not likely to receive helpful results if you input your entire research question.
Example Topic: What are the effects of climate change on biodiversity in ecosystems?
The specifics of your topic will matter when selecting sources, but for searching you only need the most essential components.
Keywords: climate change, biodiversity, ecosystems
What are the effects of climate change on biodiversity in ecosystems?
Almost all words have synonyms that convey similar or identical meanings. While formulating your topic, attempt to think of at least one synonym for each keyword. While not all keywords may have synonyms, the majority of them do!
Example:
Keyword: climate change Synonym: global warming
Keep and Eye Out
Scholars may occasionally use terminology that is unfamiliar to you or has a specific meaning within their field. During your research, be on the lookout for unfamiliar terms or frequently used words. Conduct a search using these terms to uncover additional relevant sources.
QuickSearch has many tools that can be used to refine your search.
- The Full Text limiter allows you to limit results to records that have the entire article or text available.
- The Scholarly (Peer Reviewed) Journals limiter allows you to limit results to peer-reviewed journals.
- The Physical Catalog Only limiter will limit your results to materials in the SRSU Library's physical catalog. This includes books, and audiovisual materials such as DVDs. You can use this filter when you only want to search for materials available for check out at the Library.
- The Publication Date limiter allows you to search by the publication date of your articles or books. You can adjust the dates with the slider or by entering the dates.
To assess a source, apply the five W's:
- Who is the author? Are they an authority on the topic?
- Consider the author's credentials and affiliations.
- Check if the author has published other works on the topic.
- What is the resource's purpose?
- Identify if the resource is meant to inform, persuade, or entertain.
- Determine if the resource provides facts, opinions, or both.
- Where was this information published? What is its source?
- Assess the credibility of the publisher or publication.
- Consider the source of the data or research presented.
- When was it published or last updated?
- Older resources may not contain the most current research or data.
- The relevance of the publication date can vary depending on the topic.
- Why is this resource useful? How does it compare to other sources?
- Assess if the resource adds something new or unique to the topic.
- Compare the resource with other sources on the same topic for bias or different perspectives.